Upcoming Events
Spring Student Recital 2025
Featuring Students from the Music Studios of Adam Dyjach and Jillian Forster Fair
Denman Baroque Workshop & Festival 2025
The program will once again be under the expert musical direction of the world-renowned baroque harpsichordist and composer Marco Vitale. In rehearsals, he will be assisted by instructors Carolina Pace (winds), Paul Luchkow (strings), Adam Dyjach (voice), and Marta Semkiw (continuo). In addition to Alexander’s Feast, the instructors will present a concert of baroque chamber music.
Handel’s Alexander’s Feast is an ode to St. Cecelia, the patron saint of music. The libretto by Newburgh Hamilton from a poem by John Dryden was originally set to music by Jeremiah Clarke in 1697 for the celebration of St. Cecelia’s day. Unfortunately, the music has been lost. In 1736, Handel composed music for the same libretto. Productions of this work were a great success and led to him switching from Italian operas to oratorios in English, including the famous Messiah. Dryden’s poem tells the tale of Alexander the Great (image of Alexander the Great by Peter Candid, ca 1605) celebrating a military defeat of the Persians in the captured city of Persepolis with a great feast. Alexander's Feast explores the power of music to "swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire."
We are particularly keen to attract past and new workshop participants. The workshop provides a unique opportunity to meet and sing or play with other musicians in the baroque style as well as receive instruction from world-class professional tutors. This year, we will perform in baroque pitch (A4 = 415 Hz). String players may use modern instruments if fitted with gut strings.
I Have A Voice: Songs From the Margins - Vancouver Island Chamber Choir
Welcome to “I Have a Voice: Songs from the Margins.” This program is designed to feature compositions and arrangements that give voice to those who have historically been or are currently being marginalized: people of colour, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ folk, women, immigrants, and those persecuted for their faith or their politics.
There is also much music to inspire us and give us hope, such as the spiritual “There is a Balm in Gilead”, and the stirring sounds of the music of South Africa and black gospel, with the welcome message that “The Storm is Passing Over”.
Several of our selections feature the metaphor of “the road”, which feels only too timely with the challenges refugees and immigrants face around the world today. The road that we are forced to walk when we are rootless, the road where we reflect on past regrets, but also the road that we trust will lead us home. Thanks for joining us on the road!
I Have A Voice: Songs From the Margins - Vancouver Island Chamber Choir
Welcome to “I Have a Voice: Songs from the Margins.” This program is designed to feature compositions and arrangements that give voice to those who have historically been or are currently being marginalized: people of colour, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ folk, women, immigrants, and those persecuted for their faith or their politics.
There is also much music to inspire us and give us hope, such as the spiritual “There is a Balm in Gilead”, and the stirring sounds of the music of South Africa and black gospel, with the welcome message that “The Storm is Passing Over”.
Several of our selections feature the metaphor of “the road”, which feels only too timely with the challenges refugees and immigrants face around the world today. The road that we are forced to walk when we are rootless, the road where we reflect on past regrets, but also the road that we trust will lead us home. Thanks for joining us on the road!
